09 February 1999
(Says core NATO mission is "collective defense" of members) (2570) Bonn -- Defense Secretary William Cohen says the strength of the NATO alliance resides in the fact that the security of Europe and the United States "are inseparable." The alliance's core mission must continue to be the "collective defense of its members," Cohen explained February 8 during a joint press conference with German Minister of Defense Rudolf Scharping here. However, he added, while the alliance "has no desire to become a global security force, it must have the will and capability to protect NATO nations from threats beyond its borders." The United States "is always going to play its part in the Transatlantic Alliance," Cohen said, but as Washington deals with "a range of global security interests, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, it is appropriate for Europe, which is growing more confident and more cohesive, to take a greater role in helping to resolve challenges to stability within Europe." Just as the alliance has adapted "to deal with instability on its periphery," the secretary said, "it must be able to respond to new security threats that target Europe," including biological and chemical weapons threats. Asked about future NATO membership -- following the addition of new members Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic -- Cohen said "no country is excluded by geography, but there must be a very substantial commitment and ability on their part to measure up to NATO responsibilities." Following their bilateral discussions, Cohen and Scharping answered questions on a variety of subjects including Kosovo and Iraq. Regarding the possibility of NATO ground forces being deployed to Kosovo, Cohen said that if NATO makes that decision, the troops would go in "to keep a peace, not to make a peace." Asked about the relative calm experienced recently by coalition aircraft enforcing the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq, Cohen said what Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "will do tomorrow or the next day remains a matter of great speculation, but in the meantime, we have to be prepared for any contingency." He noted that he would not read the recent cessation of Iraq's confrontational tactics as an indication of anything in particular, adding, "It could be that he has decided that the destruction of those surface-to-air missiles and radar systems that he had been deploying causes him to pull back for fear that he might lose all of them." Following is the February 8 transcript of Cohen and Scharping, as issued by the Defense Department: (begin transcript) PRESS CONFERENCE U.S. Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen and German Minister of Defense Rudolf Scharping Ministry of Defense February 8, 1999 Bonn, Germany MINISTER SCHARPING: We talked about some questions dealing with our common interests between the Federal Republic and the United States. And this includes the increasing challenge by mass means of annihilation and proliferation including the carrier technology. This includes also the development of the European (Security and) Defense Identity within NATO, with an aim to strengthen NATO. This includes the question of Kosovo and a possible, and as we think necessary, buttressing of a peace agreement if it is achieved, and we don't have any differences of opinion. That's good, and this is what we want to have in the future, too, naturally. SECRETARY COHEN: Thank you very much Minister Scharping. I would like to publicly thank you for inviting me to this important visit. We have had an opportunity to discuss some important issues this morning as Minister Scharping has just indicated, but we had the privilege of attending the Wehrkunde over the weekend in Munich. We shared a platform in addressing a large group of people from not only across the NATO membership, but also from China, Russia, Japan and other countries. We discussed a number of our mutual security interests in Munich and I want to say that I left Munich with a great sense of optimism, not only about NATO but about Germany's role in NATO. The European nations working through NATO are taking a much more active role in meeting this region's security challenges, and the search for a solution to Kosovo and the crisis there is a prime example of that level of cooperation, as Minister Scharping has just mentioned. We applaud this development. The security of Europe and the United States are inseparable and that is the strength of NATO. The United States is always going to play its part in the Transatlantic Alliance, but as the United States deals with a range of global security interests, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, it is appropriate for Europe, which is growing more confident and more cohesive, to take a greater role in helping to resolve challenges to stability within Europe. Just as NATO has adapted to deal with instability on its periphery, it must be able to respond to new security threats that target Europe, and this includes the threat of biological and chemical weapons. NATO's central mission is always going to be, and must remain, collective defense of its members. But at the same time, while the Alliance has no desire to become a global security force, it must have the will and the capability to protect NATO nations from threats beyond its borders. Minister Scharping has started an in-depth security review -- a very important undertaking that will take place over the next couple of years. I believe, and I am satisfied, that it will help Germany to improve its capabilities and its ability to play a leading role European security. I'm also impressed by the breadth of this review and by Minister Scharping's ambitious effort to meet and talk with troops of all ranks as he surveys the state of Germany's military. Germany and the United States are very strong partners for peace and stability in Europe. You host our troops and you support our Marshall Center, where together we are training leaders from the former Soviet States in how to run militaries in democracies. This is very important work for the future of Europe. I particularly want to thank Minister Scharping; he has become a good friend. I look to him for strong leadership and for calling on him on issues that affect our mutual interests. We have known each other for some time, going back to our first meetings at the Werhkunde Conference; we stay in touch by phone, frequently. I look to him for support when the United States is in need of that support and he has always been very forthcoming. So I look forward to working with him at the NATO Summit in Washington and to continuing our friendship well into the future years. He is seen and recognized as a strong leader and beyond his leadership, his friendship with me is something that I truly treasure. Thank you. QUESTION: Mr. Minister, do you believe that the question of first use of nuclear weapons should be debated within NATO and Mr. Secretary, do you think that even a debate on the issue should be conducted? MINISTER SCHARPING: (inaudible)a decision on this issue has been made on a consensus basis within the Alliance, and the position of the other partners in the Alliance is clear. I think there is no use in continuing this debate. SECRETARY COHEN: I agree with Minister Scharping. Q: How good are the chances that in Washington we will have a second round of the enlargement to the east, and what are the chances of Slovenia to be included in this round? SECRETARY COHEN: We believe that the door to NATO membership must always remain open, but as I have stated on many occasions, that open door is at the very top of a very steep set of stairs. We want to make sure that all countries who seek NATO membership are fully able to measure up to the responsibilities of contributing to the capabilities of collective defense and so, as was stated during the discussion in Madrid, this is not a social club. This is a military alliance; those countries who seek membership must be willing and able to contribute to the collective security and not simply be consumers. And so the door will continue to remain open. We think that there must be some time to absorb the three new members who will be joining us: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic. Then at some point in the future, as we see other countries able to measure up to the very high requirements that we insist upon, we will consider other members, according to our declaration in Madrid. This, of course, could include Romania, Slovenia. There will be other countries such as Bulgaria and others who will perhaps want to seek membership. There should be no exclusion; no country is excluded by geography but there must be a very substantial commitment and ability on their part to measure up to NATO responsibilities. MINISTER SCHARPING: I asked Bill Cohen to answer first because that gave me the chance to say, "I agree with Mr. Secretary." Q: I would like to ask both Ministers whether the Transatlantic armaments cooperation played a role in their discussion, for instance, the Medium Extended Air Defense System, (MEADS) and how the Americans have reacted to the appeal on the German side to ease the restrictions on the transfer of military technology. MINISTER SCHARPING: Well, in our discussion we have mentioned a point which possibly counters the impression that might have been raised here and there, that an increased defense identity would be a weakening within the cohesion in NATO. And Washington had said already that it might be helpful, that General Staff officers should be invited to Germany so that they can study at the Staff College and visit the units to have many fertile links to Europe, and have a strengthened knowledge about Europe. I think this was accepted. And there's another thing which I would like to add. Namely, that we are looking for a common technology project. And we want to make sure, on the basis of the development of these technologies, that we have a firm link within NATO. And MEADS is one of these elements. SECRETARY COHEN: With respect to the MEADS program, it is currently being restructured and, we believe, being restructured in a way that will make it technologically feasible and also affordable. You will note from my presentation of our budget to the Congress last week, that where before there was no money included in the budget for MEADS, I included $150 million to continue the program as restructured. So we will continue to work with our German and Italian friends to develop a system of this capability. With respect to the issue of easing restrictions on technology transfer, we should make it very clear that within NATO itself we want to maintain very high standards of protecting our technology. We do not want to see a reduction in the standards so that the technology that we devote so much of our resources toward simply is allowed to be disseminated without serious controls over that. Within that context, we will work very closely with our NATO allies, and with Germany in particular, developing programs whereby we can share in the research and development of programs that will enhance our security. But Germany as well as the United States and other NATO members should always be concerned about making sure we have adequate controls over the export of technology which could compromise our security. But, within that context, we are going to work very closely with Germany and others to develop ways in which we can have greater Transatlantic cooperation. Q: I would like to ask both Ministers what they have talked about regarding the scope, strengthened equipment of the peace units to Kosovo, to what extent the U.S. will be involved, and who will be the supreme leader of these units. MINISTER SCHARPING: Well, questions of scope, supreme leadership, command structure, will be discussed in conjunction with an agreement coming up and its conclusion. Several states, the United States, France, Great Britain, Germany, are involved in the preparation for the military warranty, so to speak, of such an agreement. And also to be able to react quickly to such an agreement and to buttress it. In what form, this will be shown during the next two weeks to come. SECRETARY COHEN: Again, we are in agreement in terms of how we proceed with respect to our mutual involvement in Kosovo. President Clinton has made it clear that first there must be an agreement; that none of us contemplate entering into a non-permissive environment. Namely, we would be there to keep a peace, not to make a peace. So there must be an agreement which is real, which is agreed to by all parties, which is not simply some sort of tactical move or temporizing on the part of any of them, because we do not want to see a situation in which NATO forces are committed to the region, but only as an excuse for one or more of the parties to try to take advantage and exploit it to achieve something inconsistent with the agreement itself. So the agreement must be real. President Clinton has indicated, under those circumstances, should NATO decide to commit land forces to keep that peace, that we would participate, but that the majority of the burden should be borne by the European countries. As Minister Scharping has just stated, we are in the process now of examining what size force would be required; how many troops, what their composition would be, how the military would be deployed and command structures as well. That is all under discussion at this point. Q: Mr. Secretary, I'd like to ask you about Iraq. From the past couple of days it has been pretty quiet; there have been no confrontations there. Does this suggest to you that Saddam Hussein is backing off his challenging of the no-fly zones? SECRETARY COHEN: I think that one who would endeavor to try to calculate what Saddam Hussein's motivations are at any given moment would be entering into a fool's paradise. No one should try to anticipate what he is thinking at the moment. What we have to do is be prepared for any action that he might take. Our forces are structured in such a way as to make sure that he remains contained; that he doesn't move north or move south and violate the no-fly zones, and we will continue to do that as we seek to work with opposition groups to bring about a regime change over a period of time. We are committed to that policy. What he will do tomorrow or the next day remains a matter of great speculation but in the meantime, we have to be prepared for any contingency. So I would not try to read any cessation in terms of his confrontational tactics of the past few weeks as indicating any one thing. It could be that he has decided that the destruction of those surface-to-air missiles and radar systems that he had been deploying causes him to pull back for fear that he might lose all of them. It might be that he has other intentions and plans in mind, but I think it would not be helpful to speculate. We remain prepared and vigilant and always at the ready. Thank you. (end transcript)